Te Vaka on tour Pics a history of Te Vaka in pictures.

Opetaia Foa’i is the songwriter/ lead vocalist of the group. He also plays the acoustic guitar, lead log drum and choreographs the show. The inspiration for his music comes from his multi-cultural upbringing - half Tokelauan, half Tuvaluan, born in Samoa and bought up in a Tokelauan community in New Zealand. Opetaia’s musical background spans both the traditional and the diverse influences of contemporary metropolitan culture.  He has been described as “one of New Zealand’s finest songwriters” and in 2005 won the Senior Pacific Artist award for his work in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the Pacific Arts of New Zealand.

Vocals and dance.Olivia is part Tokelauan, Tuvaluan and New Zealander. Born in New Zealand she has performed with Te Vaka since 2005. As with many members of the group, Olivia is multi-talented and loves to perform - singing and playing keyboards when she is not dancing.

Lead Guitar, Pate Toa (rhythm log drums), Pate liki (double log drums), Pa'u Malu, skin drums& flute. Neil is a founding member and has been with Te Vaka since 1994. He has been involved with music for most of his life, learning piano at the age of eleven, and going on to play drums, guitar, flute and log drums. He was the original lead guitarist in the group but took a break to play percussion, flute and keyboard for a few years – he is now back as the lead guitarist/fluteplayer/percussionist.

Drum kit, log drums, skin drums, percussion. Born in New Zealand, Matatia is quarter Tokelauan, quarter Tuvaluan and half New Zealander. He joined Te Vaka in 2003 and makes his way around log drums, skin drums, percussion and drumkit with skill and ease. He also co-composed one of the percussion tracks on the latest Te Vaka CD.

Vocals and Dance. Talaga is full Tokelauan, born in Tokelau. He is an original member of the group and his voice can be heard on the first Te Vaka album recorded in 1996. Unfortunately, in 1997, just before Te Vaka left for their first world  tour, Talaga was called back to Tokelau He returned to sing on the album in 2007 and has been touring and performing with the band ever since.

Bass player and Pau'u Malu (goat skin bass drum). Luavasa (Vasa) is half Tokelauan and half Tuvaluan born in Samoa and brought up in a Tokelauan community in New Zealand. Luavasa is a founding member of Te Vaka and toured with the group from 1995 - 1999. He took a break from touring in 2000 but rejoined the group again in 2007.

Lead dancer, Tremayne is part Niuean, Cook Island, Maori and European, born in New Zealand. She is a passionate dancer.  Discovered by Te Vaka management in 2004 she joined the group at the beginning of 2005 and has been stunning audiences around the world ever since.

Manase Foa'i

An original member of the group Manase joined Te Vaka in 1995 as a log drummer and percussionist but by 2001 he had taken over the drum kit. Manase is not currently touring with Te Vaka having taken up a career in K1 fighting..

Etueni (Edwin) Original Te Vaka dancer from 1997 - 2008. Not currently touring with the band.

Te Vaka is a group of musicians and dancers from Tokelau, Tuvalu, Samoa, Cook Islands and New Zealand brought together under the inspired leadership of Opetaia Foa'i. Te Vaka has been enchanting the world with their own brand of South Pacific Fusion since 1997. Using the rhythms of the log drum ("pate"), combined with traditional and contemporary instruments, Opetaia Foa'i and the band deliver a kaleidoscopic array of Pacific flavors in a genre all of it’s own.

Te Vaka has performed in the USA and toured the UK, Europe & other parts of the world extensively over the last 15 years, performing in such prestigious venues as London’s Royal Festival Hall and Ronnie Scott’s nightclub. The group has headlined music festivals throughout Europe and been favourites at WOMAD festivals around the world including the WOMAD Festival in Seattle, USA. They are in demand for many important world events and have represented New Zealand and the South Pacific with performances for the America’s cup events in Auckland, the Commonwealth games in Melbourne, the Rugby World Cup in Paris and the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Opetaia Foa’i is the songwriter/ lead vocalist of the group. The inspiration for his music comes from his multi-cultural upbringing - half Tokelauan, half Tuvaluan, born in Samoa and bought up in a Tokelauan community in New Zealand. Opetaia’s musical background spans both the traditional and the diverse influences of contemporary metropolitan culture. Described as “one of New Zealand’s finest songwriters” and “ a true son of the Pacific”, he won the Senior Pacific Artist award in 2005 for his contribution to the Pacific Arts.

Te Vaka has performed in more than 39 countries around the world and released six internationally acclaimed albums to date. The first released in 1997 through ARC Music, a UK based record company, gained immediate worldwide acclaim and recognition for the group and was distributed to over 80 countries. The second album, released in 1999 through Warm Earth Records created an even bigger impact going to number one on world music charts and on mainstream radio in the South Pacific. The third album, released in May 2002, was described as “Phenomenal” and gained the group a nomination in “Best Roots” category in the New Zealand music awards and nominations for BBC 3 World music awards in the UK. The 4th album Tutuki , entered the European World Music Charts at no. 4 & the USA Global Rhythm top 10 chart at No. 3. It won a Tui for “Best Pacific Music Album” in the New Zealand music awards as well as Songwriting Awards in both the USA and Australia. The fifth Te Vaka album Olatia, released in July 2007 entered the European World Music Chart at No. 4 and won a “Tui” for “Best Pacific Album” in the 2008 Pacific Music Awards. The sixth album, “Haoloto”, released in December 2009 won “Best Pacific Group 2010” and “Best Pacific Language song” at the 2010 Pacific Music Awards and the 7th Album "Havili" is already receiving rave reviews.With international tours booked up until 2012 Te Vaka has a very exciting future ahead of them..